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Titans lose Locker again in 29-27 loss to Jaguars

Titans lose Locker again in 29-27 loss to Jaguars

Photo by correspondent Rob Fleming Defensive end Derrick Morgan (91) of the Tennessee Titans puts pressure on Jacksonville quarterback Chad Henne in Sunday's NFL game in Nashville. The play resulted in a sack for Morgan, who had six tackles.

Titans lose Locker again in 29-27 loss to Jaguars

Photo by correspondent Rob Fleming Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker (10) is upended by Jacksonville on this first half run which may have led to his football injury which sidelined him in the second quarter Sunday in Nashville.

Titans lose Locker again in 29-27 loss to Jaguars

Munchak

Titans lose Locker again in 29-27 loss to Jaguars

Photo by correspondent Rob Fleming Fullback Collin Moody (42) of the Tennessee Titans serves as the Titans 12th man Sunday at LP Field. Moody, who played his college football at West Point, was spotlighted in the Titans pregame ceremony honoring the War Veterans.

Titans lose Locker again in 29-27 loss to Jaguars

Photo by correspondent Rob Fleming Tight end Tony Thompson (84) makes his first reception of the season, resulting in a touchdown for the Tennessee Titans against Jacksonville in Nashville Sunday.

TERESA M. WALKERAP Sports Writer

NASHVILLE — Another season, another inexplicable loss by the Tennessee Titans to a previously winless team.

Now they have only four days to recover for an AFC South showdown with their quarterback sidelined at least for a game, if not longer.

The Titans lost quarterback Jake Locker to an injured right foot in the second quarter, and they also turned the ball over a season-high four times Sunday as the Jacksonville Jaguars got their first win this season 29-27 at their expense.

“We blew it,” coach Mike Munchak said.

The Titans (4-5) missed an opportunity to close on Indianapolis before their game Thursday night and didn’t do much to impress the family of late owner Bud Adams who showed up for a game that featured a moment of silence in his memory. Then again, a traffic jam forced the cancellation of a news conference introducing them before kickoff.

The Jaguars (1-8) turned those four turnovers into 17 points, and that doesn’t count the safety Jaguars tackle Sen’Derrick Marks drew when held in the end zone in the fourth quarter by Titans rookie right guard Chance Warmack. It was the most points the Jaguars have scored in a game this season after being blown out by an average of 22.3 points through the first eight losses.

Ryan Fitzpatrick finished off the game by throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns, and he also ran for a 4-yard TD that pulled Tennessee within 22-20 with 4:15 left. Fitzpatrick also was stripped of the ball on a sack on the next drive, which Jaguars cornerback Will Blackmon returned 21 yards for the clinching TD.

“We had a lot of things happen today that should never happen to us in any game,” Munchak said.

Now the Titans likely will be without Locker on Thursday night. He hurt his right foot in the second quarter at the end of an option keeper and left the stadium on crutches wearing a walking boot. Locker said he will have more tests Monday to determine the extent of the damage but said he’s hoping it’s not a season-ending injury.

“I can’t imagine in four days he’d able to play as sore as he was,” Munchak said of Locker.

What happened to Locker summed up the Titans’ day.

Colin McCarthy had intercepted a pass from Chad Henne at the Jaguars 34 with 9:03 left in the second quarter and the Titans only trailing 13-0. Locker ran right and kept the ball on the option play, taking a hard hit at the end. The quarterback said he wasn’t sure how his foot got hurt.

Titans coaches thought Locker was shaking off a hit only to realize he was more seriously injured when Locker was so hobbled on the next play that he couldn’t cleanly hand off to Chris Johnson. Linebacker Russell Allen recovered at the Jaguars 17, and Locker left the game and headed to the locker room.

“That’s not CJ’s fault,” Locker said. “I wasn’t able to get to him. I just kind of got to the point I was tired of having to come off the field because I was hurt. I wanted to give it a chance and just wasn’t able to push off like I wanted to.”

The Titans wound up outgaining the Jaguars 362-214 and had a final chance to pull off a comeback after Fitzpatrick found Walker on a 14-yard TD pass with 40 seconds left. But the onside kick went straight to Johnathan Cyprien of the Jaguars.

The Jaguars celebrated with game balls going to everyone from owner Shad Khan, general manager David Caldwell and first-year coach Gus Bradley on down. Their win now leaves Tampa Bay as the only winless team in the NFL, and the Buccaneers host Miami on Monday night.

“It’s definitely a great feeling,” Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne. “Hopefully we can build on this. We can’t become complacent and say we got our first win … we’ve still got to improve on what we’ve done today and get better individually.”

NOTES: The Jaguars now have won four of the past six in this series. … Johnson passed Earl Campbell for second all-time behind only Eddie George for most yards from scrimmage in franchise history.

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